


BAH, HUMBUG

by trashpup



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: (minus the relatives), Affection, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bah Humbug, Buddie Advent (9-1-1), Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Forehead Kisses, Gentle Kissing, Hanukkah, Holidays, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Light Angst, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, M/M, overdose mentions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27815653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashpup/pseuds/trashpup
Summary: Buck, at the age of 26, had always been a cynical person who never really celebrated the holidays. He grew up hating the holidays, then things went awry with someone close to him during his senior year at university, everything got worse. Then he met Eddie and Christopher. They changed everything, including Buck’s feelings about the holidays.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 69
Collections: 25 (More) Days Of Buddie





	BAH, HUMBUG

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to my friends on the Buddie discord server for helping me work through this!  
> and a special thank you to Charlie for beta-reading this mess for me. much love!!

“Hey Cap, can I talk to you real quick?” Buck asked, wringing his hands together as he bounced up and down anxiously. Bobby nodded, and they went ahead and stepped aside into Bobby’s office. 

“What’s going on, Buck?” Bobby asked, closing the door and walking to his desk. He looked over at Buck, seeing the young man’s eyes flitting around the room, not daring to pause on one specific thing.

“Can you schedule me for a twenty-four-hour shift on Christmas Day, please?” Buck’s eyes land on Bobby, who’s giving him a look that Buck can only describe as confusion mixed with sadness, and a dash of fear. 

“Maybe. I’ll have to see what I can do, Buck. You know how the scheduling works,” Bobby sighed, not wanting to pry into Buck’s personal life. He knew how closed off Buck seemed from it all. Buck simply nodded and excused himself. 

Eddie stood nearby, waiting for Buck to leave Bobby’s office so he could have a chance to speak with the captain. He had been hoping it would happen before the alarm went off again. He watched Buck head to the gym, then decided the coast was clear. He walked over and knocked on Bobby’s door before hearing him call out that he could come in. 

“Diaz?” Bobby questioned.

“Hey, Bobby. I think I know what Buck asked and I was wondering if there was any way to have him not work a twenty-four-hour shift for Christmas,” Eddie paused, trying to read Bobby’s facial expression before he continued. “Christopher wants him to be at Christmas this year because, and I quote, _‘It’s CHRIS-mas._ ’” 

Bobby chuckled and nodded his head, “I’ll see what I can do, but listen, Eddie, I’ll give you the same answer I gave Buck. You know how the scheduling works.” Eddie nodded and thanked Bobby before heading out. 

“Hey, Buck, do you want to come over after work?” Eddie called into the gym. Buck jumped before turning around and giving Eddie a quick thumbs up. Eddie sent one back with an added smile and went to go find something to eat. 

∆

After his shift Buck went home in his Jeep, opting to take a shower at his own place rather than at the station. He texted Eddie when he got home, letting him know that he’d be ready in half an hour. It’d be around the same time that Eddie was supposed to be off work himself. 

The shower calmed Buck’s nerves, but he still felt like rubbish. It had been at least two decades since he last celebrated the holidays. Especially in the past three, nearly four, years, Buck felt like there was zero holiday spirit left. 

\- - -

_“Come on, Evan! It’s the last night of Hanukkah, let’s do something!”_

_The two were skateboarding through the blistering New York City winter weather, the hours dwindling down to midnight. Once they got out of Bryant Park, they opted to walk through the throngs of people instead of trying to skateboard. They held hands as they both took turns pulling the other through people standing and watching the lights go up in Times Square. Suddenly, they came to a stop, causing Buck to worry._

_“Ev, I don’t feel good, can we go back to yours?”_

_Buck followed his friend’s line of sight to a man that was staring straight back at them, and he couldn’t deny that it was terrifying._

\- - -

Buck felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, shaking him out of his thoughts. He checked the caller ID to see Eddie’s name. He swore under his breath and clicked accept. 

“Hey Eds, what’s up?” Buck asked, clearing his throat when his voice cracked, hoping Eddie didn’t notice. 

“Hey, I texted you a few times, and you never responded. I’m heading over now unless you’ve changed your mind and you don’t want to do a pizza and movie night with me and Chris,” Eddie chuckled. 

Eddie sounded nervous and Buck could tell, just by his laugh. He had a specific laugh that Buck had come to know as Eddie’s nervous _trying to lighten the mood_ laugh. 

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t see them, I set my phone down somewhere and then couldn’t find it. I’m down if you guys are, though!” Buck tried to sound cheerful, but he couldn’t stop thinking about his friend. 

It was stupid to even think about and Buck felt awful about dwelling on it, but it was all his fault. He couldn't help it, he was spiralling and couldn't stop it. He couldn’t let this get in the way of his time with Eddie and Chris though. He loved spending time with them and he didn’t want either of them to think he didn’t and then stop inviting him. 

∆

Eddie had picked Chris up from school before they headed to Buck’s house. He had Chris talking about his day the entire ride, right up until they turned the familiar turn into Buck’s apartment complex. 

“Are we hanging out with Buck tonight?” Chris asked excitedly. “Does he know we’re coming over?” 

“Yeah, we’re hanging out with Buck tonight. Yes, he knows we’re coming over, but we’re going back to our house with Buck so we can have a fun pizza and movie night. How does that sound, bud?” Eddie twisted in the front seat to look back at Chris, seeing him smiling brightly and practically bouncing up and down in the booster seat.

“Did you ask him if he could spend Christmas with us?” 

“I thought you could ask him yourself, he does like you a lot more than he likes me,” Eddie joked with a laugh. Part of him knew it was just a joke. The other part of him was sensible and knew Buck would risk his life for Chris in a heartbeat, no questions asked. 

“Tell him we’re here! I want to say hi!” 

Eddie laughed again, sending Buck a quick text to let him know he was sitting in front of the building. Buck sent back a simple “Okay! I'll be there in a second.” 

A minute later, Buck jogged out of the building, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He ran a hand through his hair and spotted Eddie’s car, smiling and breaking into a run. When he spotted Chris trying to get out of the car, he ran to him and scooped him up. 

“Hey buddy, how was the last day of school before the holiday?” Buck asked, spinning Chris around before setting him back on his feet with a huge smile on his face. 

“It was good, we got to make art in class instead of doing schoolwork,” Chris said, smiling up at Buck before continuing onto his question. “Are you going to be at Christmas this year, Bucky?” 

Buck’s smile faltered a bit as he searched for Eddie. When he couldn’t see Eddie, he turned back to Chris and bent down to try and explain to him what might happen on Christmas.

“I might have to work all day on Christmas, so I might not be home at all then, but I can come over the day after? How does that sound? If I have to work on Christmas, then I’ll come over after and spend the day with you guys.”

Chris took Buck’s words into consideration then snubbed his nose, “You have to come, Bucky, it’s _Chris_ -mas,” Chris tried, putting the emphasis on his name. He looked up at Buck with a pout on his face. He knew Eddie could never resist the puppy-dog eyes, so maybe Buck was the same.

“I’ll see what I can do, bud, but no promises. The holidays aren’t the easiest time for me, but I think having you around will make it much easier.” Buck managed a small smile as he ruffled Chris’ hair. He helped Chris back into Eddie’s car, then slipped into the front seat, stealing a quick glance over at Eddie before he pulled out his phone and fiddled with it the entire car ride.

∆

Once they arrived at Eddie’s house, Buck and Chris made their way to the couch and turned on one of the game consoles and sat side-by-side. They played game after game until Eddie called Buck away for help in the kitchen. 

“What’s up, Eddie?” Buck asked, walking into the kitchen, turning and leaning against the counter and blinking at the man standing in front of him. “Everything okay?” he asked when Eddie paused for a moment longer than Buck found comforting. 

“Buck, what did you mean when you said the holidays weren’t always the easiest time for you?” Eddie asked, his voice catching in his throat as he tried to not get choked up on his words. He looked up and saw Buck’s deer in the headlights look. “Please don’t feel like you have to answer that if you don’t feel comfortable.” 

“No, it’s fine. I brought it up and Frank said it's good to talk about my trauma,” Buck took a deep breath and began:

\- - -

_“C’mon, Buck, I’ve got something for you!”ˆ_

_Running down the street, the two laughed and dodged through the crowd apologising as they bumped into people. They hadn’t stopped smiling the entire time they were running, and Buck had never felt better._

_“Where are we going?” Buck called, slowing down a bit to try and catch his breath._

_“My place, it’s the night before Christmas and I want to give you your present since I won’t get to see you for a while after tonight.” It sounded suspicious, but Buck tried to push those thoughts aside and just enjoy the time with his friend._

_Buck got his present and strict orders to not open the package and card until Christmas morning and then he was sent on his way, knowing he had an early morning shift. He hugged his friend tightly and thanked him for the gift and left, the crisp New York winter wind nipping at his cheeks._

\- - -

“I should’ve stayed with him; I could’ve stopped him,” Buck sucked in a breath, shaking his head to try and get rid of all the thoughts running through his head. 

“Evan, it’s nothing you could’ve predicted or prevented. Please don’t blame yourself for this,” Eddie said, knowing exactly what Buck was thinking without having to explicitly hear it from the other man.

“I miss him so much, Eds. I’d give anything to see him again, even if it was only for a moment,” Buck hiccupped, trying to force a small laugh. He wiped his cheeks and eyes on his sleeve, blinking back more tears. 

“Does he have any social media? Would it help to look at pictures of him?” Eddie asked, his voice soft as he guided Buck to sit down on the ground so he wouldn’t collapse. 

Buck nodded, pulling out his phone and clicking on the Instagram app, opening it and clicking over to the search and typing in _‘twink-strand.’_ He smiled at the username and clicked enter. An account came up matching the username that Buck had typed in, so he clicked on it. 

Eddie looked over and saw the name _TK Strand_. It sounded familiar to him, but he couldn’t put his finger on where he’d heard the name before. He looked down at a couple of the pictures and smiled, seeing a picture of Buck with the man. 

They sat on the kitchen floor and looked through pictures on TK’s profile, Buck giving some backstory for some of the pictures as needed. Eddie noticed that the account hadn’t been active in nearly four years, the last picture having been posted three days before Christmas four years prior. 

“Dad? Bucky?” Chris’ voice rang through the kitchen, startling both men, getting them to scramble up off the ground and hurry over to the boy. “I’m hungry, when’s dinner?” 

“We can order pizza now if you’d like,” Eddie smiled. He stole a glance over to Buck, noticing how quiet he was being, not wanting to bring it up, but he knew Chris was bound to notice eventually. He didn’t want Chris to ask the wrong thing and upset Buck even further.

“Okay!” Chris smiled and turned back around, focusing on his game instead of the two adults behind him. 

∆

The next two weeks were stressful. Chris had Eddie doing some last-minute shopping and while that was happening, Eddie was also trying to figure out Christmas plans. It was proving to be harder than usual when Buck seemed to be even more closed off than he normally was. He hadn’t wanted to hang out at all in the past two weeks and Eddie couldn’t stop worrying. 

“Buck, hey man. What’s your shift on Christmas?” Eddie approached Buck as he was cleaning the truck on a slow morning. 

“Uh, I know it’s not in the evening anymore. Bobby said there was a chance I might not have to work at all and he knows that I really, really don’t want to stay home by myself all day. Why?” Buck asked, tilting his head to the side, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.

“How would you feel about spending Christmas with me and Chris?” Eddie asked slowly, waiting and trying to anticipate Buck’s reaction to his question. 

“Okay,” Buck responded hesitantly, unsure if Eddie was just inviting him over out of pity or if it was genuine. “I did get you and Chris some gifts.” Eddie looked surprised for a moment, and then he visibly relaxed, nodded and smiled. He gave Buck a quick pat on the back and let him go back to cleaning the truck in quiet. 

∆

Christmas Eve came and Buck knocked on the front door to Eddie’s house at 7 PM sharp. Chris gasped and grabbed his crutches, quickly making his way to the front door. He tried to get there before Eddie did, too excited to see Buck and get to spend time with him for the holidays.

“Daddy, Bucky’s here!” Chris shouted. From outside, Buck chuckled, having heard Chris’ muffled yell towards his father. He heard the click of the lock on the door and then it opened to reveal a very excited Chris and a slightly dishevelled Eddie.

“Hey, Chris! How’s my favourite little man?” Buck asked, attempting to balance a small stack of gifts in one arm to try and at least give Chris a one-armed hug. Eddie, fortunately, came to his rescue and took the gifts out of his hands so they were free to hug Chris. 

“I’m good, I missed you!” Chris responded once he was in Buck’s arms. “Daddy has a surprise for you, and he won’t even tell me what it is.” Buck raised an eyebrow in Eddie’s direction and grinned.

“Oh, does he now? I wonder what it could possibly be.” Eddie rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue in a childlike manner, causing Buck to laugh as he set Chris down. 

They made their way into the living room and sat on the couch. With them, they brought two bowls of popcorn and a bunch of cookies that they wouldn’t be able to finish throughout the evening. Chris had curled up in between the two adults, choosing to lean against Buck instead of Eddie while they watched films. 

Chris boasted to Buck that he and Eddie had made the cookies from scratch, claiming to have done most of the baking himself. Buck looked at Eddie skeptically only to get an affirming head nod from Eddie to tell him that Chris had done most of the baking by himself. 

Halfway through the second film, Chris fell asleep, his chest rising and falling steadily. Buck offered to help with Chris’ nighttime routine, helping the boy get dressed in his favourite pyjamas. Buck helped him brush his teeth and then get tucked into bed. After all was said and done, Buck went back out to the living room and flopped down on the couch next to Eddie. He leaned over and rested his head on Eddie’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Eddie.” 

Despite Eddie's efforts to keep his movements subtle, Buck surely noticed the light kiss pressed to the top of his head. Buck gave a happy sigh and wiggled his body down. He swung his legs up onto the couch so his entire body was sprawled across the couch as well as Eddie’s lap as he fell asleep.

∆

“Bucky, wake up,” Chris whispered, shaking Buck’s arm until he opened his eyes. “It’s Chris-mas!” 

Buck opened his eyes and saw Chris’ smiling face standing a few inches away from his own face. He reached an arm up to ruffle Chris’ hair before he was blinking away his sleepiness.

“Good morning to you too, Chris. Happy Chris-mas,” Buck winked, watching Chris’ smile grow a little bit more at his words. “Now come on, let’s go make a nice breakfast for your dad for when he wakes up.” 

Chris nodded and let Buck stand up off the couch and stretch before leading him into the kitchen where they made breakfast. Chris decided on cinnamon rolls, so they made cinnamon rolls from a tube. 

“Okay, we gotta be quiet so we don’t wake your dad up, but I need to get the pan out. It’s gonna make a bit of noise, can you go watch and make sure your dad doesn’t wake up?” Buck asked quietly. Chris nodded and moved to stand in the doorway so he could see Eddie sprawled out on the couch, still fast asleep. 

Buck tried taking the pan out as quietly as possible but ended up dropping another pan as he was putting everything back. He flinched and slowly looked up at Chris, who watched and waited for Eddie to move. When he didn’t, Chris gave Buck a thumbs up and moved back over to where Buck was standing. 

Together the baking process didn’t take long at all. Soon enough they were trying to wake Eddie up by enticing him with the scent of cinnamon and the promise of presents after. 

“Morning you two, what have you gotten yourselves into?” Eddie asked with a yawn. He sat up and stretched, his bones cracking as he did. He groaned and looked over at Buck and Chris, seeing both of them grimace at the noise. 

“We made cinnamon rolls!” Chris announced, thrusting a plate in Eddie’s direction for him to take. “After we eat, we can open presents, right?” Eddie nodded and took the plate from his son, immediately digging in.

“We did good, Bucky,” Chris said with a smile, having sat down on the couch next to Eddie to start eating his own breakfast. He patted the empty area on his other side, beckoning Buck over so they could all sit together. “Now hurry up and eat so we can open presents!” Buck and Eddie both laugh at Chris’ enthusiasm and wasted no time in digging into their breakfast. 

Once they finished eating, Chris made the two adults sit on the floor and open their presents. They’d sorted through all the gifts under the tree, Eddie and Buck with three or four gifts each and Chris with around nine. He’d grinned at the fact that he had more gifts than the two adults combined, even though he knew that adults always got less.

They started opening their gifts, pausing after opening each gift to admire the thoughtfulness behind it. Chris had blown through all but one of his gifts by the time Buck and Eddie finished opening their own. 

He got halfway through opening his final gift when they all heard the doorbell ring. Eddie immediately got up and padded down the hall to the front door, which was just out of sight from the living room. Buck stayed with Chris and watched as he opened his last present. 

They could hear Eddie talking, but they couldn’t hear the second person. When no one appeared in the doorway within the next minute, Buck got up, telling Chris he’d be right back.

“What if he doesn’t wanna see me? He probably hates me.” 

Buck froze; he heard the voice before he rounded the corner. Even though he couldn’t see anyone, he could tell that whoever it was out there sounded hesitant; too unsure, too anxious, too small. 

His heart was pounding, his hands were shaking. He knew that voice, he’d recognise it anywhere, but there was no way… 

Was there?

He rounded the corner and looked up, seeing the one person he never thought he’d see again. The man was standing across from Eddie in the foyer, wringing his hands together nervously, trying to find something to do with them. 

Buck watched as the other man shoved his hands into his pockets only to take them back out and bring one up to the string of his hoodie and the other to his waist, wrapping around and squeezing tightly. 

He really hadn’t changed a bit since Buck saw him last.

“TK?” Buck muttered. “Ty?”

TK looked up and blinked at Buck, his eyes filling with tears. 

“Tyler Kennedy Strand, are you actually standing in front of me right now?” Buck stood a few feet away from TK, watching as TK dropped the string out of his mouth, trying to figure out if Buck wanted him there.

“I-I can go, I’m sorry,” TK whimpered, looking down at his shoes. 

“No, TK, please stay. You can stay and celebrate with us,” Eddie tried. He held out a hand, waiting to see if TK would accept the offer. Eddie turned to Buck and gestured to TK, trying to get Buck to understand that he had to let TK know whether or not he was allowed to stay. 

“TK, I know you don’t celebrate Christmas, but please stay, I’ve missed you a lot,” Buck said softly, talking to TK like he was a spooked animal. He took a step forward and held out his arms. 

“I’m surprised that you’re celebrating Christmas,” TK mentioned, a hesitant smile creeping up on his face. 

Buck rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around TK, “ **Bah, humbug.** ” 

Both men seemed to relax into the hug momentarily, and then Eddie watched as TK’s body started shaking as he let tears flow freely down his face. Buck never let go of him, scared that if he did, TK would be gone and it would be an illusion. 

“It’s okay, you’re okay, _we’re_ okay,” Buck fussed, trying to let TK know that he was okay and he wasn’t going to get kicked out onto the streets. Buck guided them both to the ground so TK was sitting in Buck’s lap a bit. 

Buck’s words were also an affirmation for himself, a reminder that TK was physically there and his overdose was able to be reversed and he didn’t lose TK forever. 

“I’m so sorry, Buck. I’m sorry, I never wanted you to get hurt, I’m sorry,” TK wept into Buck’s chest, his hands shaking as he grasped onto the front of Buck’s shirt. “I thought that it would make everything better if I just left, I’m sorry.” 

Buck stilled, just trying to take in what TK had said. He looked up at Eddie and saw the horrified look on Eddie’s face, watching as Eddie figured out the details of what TK was talking about. 

“Ty, it’s okay, let’s get you comfortable, you can go lay down for a bit, okay? There’s a lot of emotions, it’s a lot to take in. We can talk more later, okay?” Buck said softly, placing a kiss on the top of TK’s head, offering to let him rest for a bit, unsure of how far he’s travelled and what circumstances he came under. 

He looked back up at Eddie and saw him nod. He offered to take TK to the guest bedroom so he could lay down, letting Buck straighten himself back up before rejoining Christopher in the living room. 

Before they went back to the living room, Buck found Eddie tiptoeing around the guest bedroom, trying to be gentle and quiet as TK rested on the bed, his shoes set up by the door and his jacket hanging on the hook behind the door. 

“Thank you for bringing him here, Eddie,” Buck said, catching Eddie as he was leaving the bedroom, wrapping his arms around Eddie in a tight hug. “This means so much more to me than I could ever put into words.” 

Buck pressed a kiss to Eddie’s cheek before pulling back, a blush covering his cheeks, up to the tips of his ears. Eddie chuckled and tugged Buck back in for one last hug before they headed back out to the living room, seeing Christopher playing quietly with his new toys.


End file.
